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Oh, I know that there's no unwritten rule that stuff *has* to end in 10 volumes or less. But it looks to me like the story's gearing up for a finale, and I think it could be wrapped up in one book. The huge delay for book ten also adds to this feeling; it's as if the ending to the story is being held back to help prolong the hype and profitable life of the series for as long as possible.

While Haruhi fans are resigned to face any and all possibilities thrown at them by the (publish/animat/auth)or these days, wrapping the story up by the vol.10 would render the entire series abso-f-ing-lutely [American], devastatingly [Brits], bloody [Aussies], chotto [Humanoid Interface] unreadable. Given the amount of mysteries, loose ends, and unexplained that Tanigawa painstakingly developed, to end all that in one volume he'll either have to spill everything like a text book, or leave some things unexplained, neither is consistent with his writing style.

I'm guessing the novels will get to the 3rd high school year, just because the transition into college signifies adulthood and responsibilities, Kyon making his choice then would be natural and conclusive (as does many other high school fictions). The first year we read, spanning 9 vol. and is mainly about the nucleation of SOS; not just members physically together but functioning as a team: Kyon = brain, Yuki = gun, Haruhi = nut, Itsuki = face, Mikuru = mascot. (come to think of it, sounds like A-Team+1). And like any competent serial novelist, when Tanigawa wrote about the first year he also laid the groundwork for the 2nd - the external threats to SOS-dan. We can imagine these threats becoming more interesting and entangled, but they're not going to be the (main) climax to this story. By the time Tanigawa finish off the 2nd year and he'd be hinting about the 3rd, possibly the fundamental purposes and intrinsic conflicts between the SOS members. It'll be impressive, because Tanigawa will have the vast arsenal of characters to play with and the freedom and skills to alter realities. It'll be awesome. It'll be scary awesome.

While Haruhi fans are resigned to face any and all possibilities thrown at them by the (publish/animat/auth)or these days, wrapping the story up by the vol.10 would render the entire series abso-f-ing-lutely [American], devastatingly [Brits], bloody [Aussies], chotto [Humanoid Interface] unreadable. Given the amount of mysteries, loose ends, and unexplained that Tanigawa painstakingly developed, to end all that in one volume he'll either have to spill everything like a text book, or leave some things unexplained, neither is consistent with his writing style.

Leaving entire aspects of the plot unexplained has been done before. Take Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou for example. After 14 volumes across 12 years, the manga never explains:
-Why humanity is dying out
-The nature of the disaster that reshaped Mt. Fuji & caused a sea level rise
-Who the owner of the main robotic female main character is.

Do we really have to know what happened to those 8 other people who saw the SOS Brigade emblem which infected the Computer President (5 of them being North High students)?

Do we really have to know where in the worlds of Haruhi we can find her playing piano as seen in the OP?

Is the discrepancy between Asahina Mikuru's explanation of a space-time as a series of disconnected frames and Kyon's observation of some continuity due to the events of Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody... is that discrepancy really important?

Is the fact that... *goes to sleep*

(9 hours later)

*wakes up* What? Oh, yeah. Anyway, I'm perfectly fine with having mysteries unsolved. It makes for easier fan fiction and doesn't rip the wings off the butterfly, to put it that way.

I myself would get hopelessly bogged down by all these loose ends. I imagine Tanigawa is itching to cut these loose plot threads off

Anyway, I'm perfectly fine with having mysteries unsolved. It makes for easier fan fiction and doesn't rip the wings off the butterfly, to put it that way.

I myself would get hopelessly bogged down by all these loose ends. I imagine Tanigawa is itching to cut these loose plot threads off

Which is perfectly fine. Whatever satisfies a reader from a novel is entirely up to him. This particular reader would like the biggies and central ones answered, and without which the Haruhi experience would be incomplete.

The Time paradox in BLR will, and should, be resolved, because Yuki said to Kyon "You'll get it." That's an implicit promise by Tanigawa to his readers that he'll resolve this by possibly yet another mind twisting, novels spanning demonstration. [I'm still favoring the parallel world interpretation to resolve the paradox a la John Titor.] Which would a) give him something to write {contrary to some opinions that he's out of ideas by vol.10}, b) gives Kadokawa something to print {you bet they'll milk every yen out of Haruhi that they can. Now and every 10 years there after.} and c) gives people like me something to read.

We may never know the specifics of the actors' guild known as the Organization, but at some point when Itsuki is free to express his true self to Kyon it's when the Organization's agendas would become apparent as well. Again I'd be very disappointed if Tanigawa doesn't get this far.

Yuki doesn't lie. Even when she's withholding information the act itself reveals information. The meanings of cryptic and quarky things she says and do will become more interpretable with more screen time, and Tanigawa can maintain all his subtleties and provide resolutions at the same time.

On a slightly different note, what do you think is going to happen to Mikuru at the end of the second year. We all know she's supposed to gratuate then. Do you think someone will replace her, like the slider? Either way, I'll be sad to see her go.

She wasn't one of my favorites, but I can't imagine the SOS Brigade being the same without her. Same goes to the others are well.

^
some people think Mikuru might return as Adult Mikuru in the diguise of a student teacher or even a normal teacher and may become the advisor to the Literatrue Club... and the series changes from Haruhi to GTM (Great Teacher Mikuru) kidding about GTM lol... Although for safety's sake She migth use the Alias Michiru, the alias Kyon gave her during Intrigues.

Personally I don't mind either way, at the very least Kyon will still see adult Mikuru in one form ,shape or another.

More like and 'Oh god, the manipulator is now among us full time' kind of welcome, I would think.

The "Mikuru is evil" camp is starting to annoy me more than the "Kyon is God" camp...

Your lack of faith in Mikuru is disturbing.

Seriously, the whole point about every book before book 9 was to set the SOS-dan as a cohesive, united force, in order for them to face the challenges offered by the anti-sos-dan. The SOS-dan members have stopped second-guessing each other's motives; why couldn't you?

The "Mikuru is evil" camp is starting to annoy me more than the "Kyon is God" camp...

Your lack of faith in Mikuru is disturbing.

Seriously, the whole point about every book before book 9 was to set the SOS-dan as a cohesive, united force, in order for them to face the challenges offered by the anti-sos-dan. The SOS-dan members have stopped second-guessing each other's motives; why couldn't you?

She's not necessarily evil, just untrustworthy. Out of the whole brigade, she arguably contributes the least. Koizumi has the same potential of being untrustworthy, but it seems unlikely because he acts too suspicious to be untrustworthy. He and Nagato (IIRC) have stated their allegiance to the SoS brigade first, and their respective organizations second. Mikuru has done no such thing. She also does not hang around Kyon much, but this could be to subvert Haruhi's wrath. Also, she and Nagato seem to have some uncomfortable reactions to eachother, something not present between Nagato and Koizumi.

She doesn't seem sincere to me. I realize that she probably is trustworthy in all likeliness, but it's a theory I like to entertain. Her character isn't as deep as it could be so being untrustworthy, even if she's not a malefactor, would accomplish that.

Koizumi has the same potential of being untrustworthy, but it seems unlikely because he acts too suspicious to be untrustworthy.

That kind of logic just fails, for me. In fact, it's not logic at all. It's more like bizzaro logic. Does one have to be untrustworthy on the outside in order to be trustworthy?

Sometimes, a spade is just a spade. Mikuru is shown to be exactly who she is shown to be, a helpless girl pulled by the strings of destiny whether she liked it or not. Kyon has far more control over his own destiny than she does. Mikuru doesn't NEED to be deep, i.e. twisted and dark. She is the "innocent" character, like Maya Ibuki of Evangelion. Taking that away doesn't make her deep, it just destroys everything she represented. If every time she cries in despair out of hopelessness, you imagine she is faking it all, it would completely alter the scene concerned.

If her tears are fake, then she is not Mikuru Asahina.

If Mikuru is malicious, there would not be a need for the Ati-SOS-dan to exist as antagonists.

We'll see (hopefully) how they play Mikuru(BIG) off Nagato late this season. Then we might see just how "untrustworthy" Mikuru is and how she reacts to Nagato even after being around her for a few years and then having grown up (someplace). I doubt we'll see anything other than fear out on Mikuru.

Mikuru's basic problem seems to be that she's there because history says she was there. What training she has seems to be just enough to function and obey orders in the "present". She's obviously in regular contact with her "home" time, but doesn't seem to get instructions to do stuff very often. She also has involutary mental blocks that prevent her from giving away knowledge of the future casually (it isn't a perfect block as she's been known to say strange things without being censored). But the weeping "classified information" spam during Endless Eight was funny.

Mikuru may be there only because she's meant to be there. She may never do anything other than observe and be there for Haruhi to play with. The bigger question, aside from Mikuru(plural) and the anti-SOS-dan's future guy...are there any other time travelers around Haruhi that have better information and are actively trying to find out why they can't go farther back in time than "the timequake of three years ago"? Is there a motive for the time travelers besides observe Haruhi? Does it matter to them that they can't go back farther in time? Could they do so before some point in time, go farther back than Haruhi's timequake? Or are they just trying to be sure the "time destroyer" (Haruhi) doesn't decide to destroy them all next time around by keeping her happy with her perfect play thing (Mikuru).

The thing is...why is Mikuru(BIG) overseeing part of the operation of Mikuru(small)? They shouldn't be from the same time period. Mikuru(BIG) states that she's not seen Kyon for a long time when he first sees her. This could be false, but she looks really happy to see him in a way that suggests she hasn't seen him in a while...or the last time she saw him he was dead or something, which would also expalin why she's happy to see him. She doesn't look all that much older than Mikuru(small), maybe 10-15 years older...but then future tech/(Harem-Key MILF-like subtance) could make her almost any age...in either form. Her off hand comments suggests Mikuru is from the far future rather than the near future (within Kyon's lifespan). A question would be how do the future humans get along with the aliens like Yuki...or do they even have contact with them still. Mikuru seemed to recognize Yuki somewhat on her first meeting, so there is something there. She also fears Yuki, though Yuki and Kyon seem to have no idea why (perhaps), though Yuki is admittedly the most powerful member of the SOS-dan short of Haruhi's full on reality warping powers...and Kyon's key control over all members of the SOS-dan.